Shopper, Taha Baabbad of San Francisco, heads to the bus stop after getting his groceries at the Cala Foods Supermarket on the corner of Hyde and California Streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday Sept. 16, 2008.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Shopper, Taha Baabbad of San Francisco, heads to the bus stop after...

The developers are seeking city planning approvals and building permits by the end of the year. A recent neighborhood survey indicated that residents strongly favored Trader Joe's as the replacement for Cala, which has occupied the space for the past 50 years.

Once it departs in December, there will be no Cala stores in San Francisco.

First down and inches: It's about to be the law.

Once Gov. Jerry Brownsigns off on the state budget and its accompanying "trailer" bills, Amazon.com and other out-of-state online retailers will be obligated to collect and pay California sales tax, just like any other retailer doing business in the state.

If estimates are correct, the online measure will be worth $200 million annually to the state's hard-pressed coffers.

It marks a hard-earned victory for a coalition of independent booksellers, small retailers and brick-and-mortar chains like Walmart that have long sought a "level playing field" on which to compete with out-of-state online competitors.

Amazon, Overstock.com and other online retailers will not be thrilled. California, which is Amazon's biggest market, will be joining 14 other states, including New York and Texas, with similar laws on the books or in the legislative pipeline.

Amazon and Overstock have long threatened to end their affiliation with businesses in California and other states contemplating such moves, and in the case of some small states, have followed through.

Not so, as yet, in bigger states, like New York, where Amazon has sued, so far unsuccessfully, to overturn the law.

But we're sure to hear from Amazon and other online tax opponents in the coming days.

Lights out: No matter how "unsupportable" they may be, according to all 122 California trial and appellate court judges, the $150 million worth of cuts the Legislature passed Tuesday are about to be real, and acted upon.

That means doors closed, lights out - some totally, for at least a year - for up to 25 of San Francisco's civil courts, and as many as 200 court employees, 41 percent of the total, being laid off, as we noted last week (sfg.ly/kb5Q58).

Coincidentally, contracts with a number of court employee unions, including court clerks and investigators, officially expire Thursday. Anticipating some cuts, negotiations on a new contract had been proceeding for some weeks, "until the Legislature dropped this bomb on us," said Yuen.

"Now we have to move quickly into a staff reduction mode," he said.

While citizens seeking the courts' help in resolving differences - divorces, child custody cases, business disputes - are going to have to wait an awfully long time.